“She was a goddess. She was a monster. She‘d nearly destroyed this country. And then she‘d given it one last, gasping chance to live.”

After major battles against foreign invaders, Rin wants to return to the southern provinces, her home village Tikany, to save them from oppression. But when she finally returns, Rin is confronted with hard decisions and interesting chances.

I finally did it! I finished it! And I did it all alone. Joking aside, finishing this monster of a book and with it the complete Poppy War Trilogy, did feel like a little victory. Because these books are huge, mortal, they hack and slash on your heart and in the meanwhile confuse you with battle war tactics and who to trust.
The Poppy War have been a praised series. It was groundbreaking how Kuang combined Chinese history with a thrilling fantasy that doesn’t shy of terrors, war crimes and betrayal. And while this is the case, I have wondered why this series needed three volumes. Yes, it resulted in a very deep connection to the characters, but it also felt repetitive at some times. I get that the real Opium Wars lasted like forever, but sometimes it felt like these books established the same war fatigue.
But yes, this book tied up all lose ends, it had major plot twists, it had a fast pace and was action packed. And because of this I quite enjoyed it. And still I wondered couldn’t it be a bit shorter?